Across The UniverseReview

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Julie Taymor's magical mystery tour is worth the trip.

By Stax

Director Julie Taymor's Across the Universe is a lush, loopy and loving tribute to the music of The Beatles and the spirit of the 1960s. Evan Rachel Wood leads a cast otherwise made up of relative unknowns in this throwback to the psychedelic musicals of yesteryear.

The story of the characters and the era they inhabit is told through the music of The Beatles. Liverpool native Jude (Jim Sturgess) jumps ship in America to seek out the father he never knew, a former G.I. who now works as a handyman at any Ivy League college. Not long after arriving stateside, Jude befriends affluent, devil-may-care student Max (Joe Anderson). Jude, who has left behind a girlfriend in England, soon falls for Max's sister Lucy (Wood), an All-American girl whose boyfriend is serving in Vietnam.

Needless to say, Jude and Lucy fall in love. After Max drops out of school, he and Jude move to New York City, where they live a bohemian lifestyle along with their landlord -- a Janis Joplin-like singer named Sadie (Dana Fuchs) -- Jimi Hendrix-esque guitarist Jo-Jo (Martin Luther McCoy), and Prudence (T.V. Carpio), an Asian-American lesbian. Lucy soon joins them there and finds herself caught up in the times.

The war in Vietnam and the protests at home (against the war, as well as for civil rights) soon take center stage. Lucy loses her innocence but gains a greater purpose when Max is drafted and sent off to war. The relationship between Jude -- now a struggling, but talented artist -- and Lucy is tested when she becomes a passionate member of the anti-war movement, eventually getting caught up with a cell of violently radical protesters. Will Jude and Lucy's love survive these dark hours and times? That's the question that drives the story -- by Taymor, Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais -- forward.

The film's plot is not nearly as confusing or daffy as the synopsis above might suggest. The reinterpretation of The Beatles' music (sung by the cast) advances the narrative and establishes the tone of the various set-pieces. There are 33 Beatles songs used in all, only a handful of which feel forced or excessive. Some of the standout sequences include Prudence's rendition of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" (reimagined as unrequited lesbian love), Joe Cocker singing "Come Together" during Jo-Jo's introduction, "I Am The Walrus" (sung by Bono, who appears briefly as a counter-culture icon), and a rowdy schoolboy take on "With a Little Help From My Friends."

As to be expected from the director of Titus and Frida, Taymor has made a visually arresting film, chock full of dreamy sequences painted with psychedelic power. While many musicals often feel like extended music videos, Taymor has truly created a visual poem with the strikingly beautiful Across the Universe. This is the most unique and visceral film you will see all year, and it should likely earn Oscar nominations for cinematography and art direction.

The performances are solid throughout, even if the characterizations are, as they so often are in musicals, thin and predictable. Wood surprises with her singing voice, while Sturgess makes a winning stateside debut as Jude. Also noteworthy is Joe Anderson, who looks like a cross between Jude Law and Kurt Cobain. Cameos include the aforementioned Bono and Cocker, as well as Salma Hayek, Dylan Baker, and Eddie Izzard (as "Mr. Kite").

Unfortunately, the film is almost a half-hour too long. Nearly every '60s political and pop cultural touchstone is covered, making the viewer feel as if this journey down the long and winding road really has taken an entire decade. The picture falters after tripping out in the "Mr. Kite" sequence, which feels out of place tonally with the rest of the movie. The viewer loses their connection to the characters during this overlong sequence, a jarring and silly misstep given all the time spent emotionally investing in them.

These flaws aside, Across the Universe is Fab, fun, soulful and moving. It isn't just another movie about the momentous events of the '60s, but rather a valentine to the era's artistic and idealistic spirit as symbolized by the music of The Beatles.